One of the main reasons Chris Lytle retired from fighting was to spend more time with his family.

But that often means more time worrying about things like texting and driving or drinking and driving.

“I know there’s temptations out there to text and drive,” Lytle on Monday told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “My son just started to drive, and I can’t even tell him not to do it.”

As a longtime member of the Indianapolis Fire Department, Lytle has yet to see the damage done by texting and driving, but he’s nonetheless taking precautions. He discussed them this week as part of MMAjunkie.com’s Labor Day campaign with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Lytle got his recently licensed son a stick-shift car, and his daughter is getting the same. He said it’s one way to assure texting is impossible.

Lytle, though, is far better acquainted with the dangers of drinking and driving. As a firefighter, he said the majority of calls he answers in which there’s been a fatality involve drunk driving. If it’s a call in the middle of the night, it’s almost certain.

“They’re people who have been drinking heavily at the bars and think they can drive home,” Lytle said. “Most of them are young people.”

The NHTSA recently released a study that found alcohol-impaired fatalities accounted for one out of every three deaths on the road in 2010 – about one death every 51 minutes.

Lytle said the reccurring theme with all the accidents he’s seen is the senseless nature of them, coupled with the fact that they could have been avoided if the drunk driver had taken a cab or gotten a ride home.

Lytle doesn’t advocate for temperance, but he believes that drinking should be done responsibly.

“If the people who know me very well spend time with me, they know that I like to have a lot of fun,” Lytle said. “I’m a firm believer that if you work hard, you play hard. But that being said, I’m really fortunate to have my job on the fire department, and it’s really opened my eyes on a lot of things.

“We talk about the worst-case scenario, but there’s a lot of bad things that can happen (like) DUIs, a ton of different things that are bad. There’s only one good one: You may get home fine.”

Lytle (31-18-5 MMA, 10-10 UFC) retired after a third-round win over Dan Hardy at UFC on Versus 5 a little over a year ago. That victory earned him both the “Fight of the Night” and “Submission of the Night” bonuses in Milwaukee. After leaving the sport, he ran for office but lost the Republican bid for a state Senate nomination in Indiana’s District 28. He finished second in a three-candidate race.

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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